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How to Make Elderberry Syrup

Angela McElroy, Medicinal Herbs and FoodNo comments, ,

There is no better time than now to give thanks to the beautiful elder (Sambucus nigra).

All parts of the elder can be used in different ways although most tend to use the berries and flowers. The flowers are amazing in teas as this can have a slightly sedative effect and opens the pores to reduce heat which can be comforting to those who have dry irritable skin. The flower is also beneficial for colds, flu and inflammation in the lungs. The berries are very similar to the flowers, but they also build the blood and can be used for anemia. The berries are also useful for sore throats and nasal congestion.

Because elder is both stimulating and sedative it is said to have a normalizing action. Because it has this normalizing action it can be helpful for most conditions that are hot or cold, dry or damp. Mathew Woods writes, “Elder opens all tubes of the body (skin, lungs, colon, kidneys, blood vessels), improving oxygenation, blood flow, perspiration and elimination by colon and kidneys.

Elder is a wonderful herb to use with children. As a relaxant, it calms the spasmodic cough, and can be helpful with croup or intestinal …

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how to stop recurring illness

The Secret to Stopping the Reocurring Sick

Angela McElroy, Medicinal Herbs and Food, Mind Body and Spirit, Natural HealthNo comments, , , ,

Have you ever suffered from a cough, cold symptoms, sinus pressure, fevers or general not-feeling-so-hot for weeks? Maybe you’ve found relief from antibiotics, over-the-counter meds, or herbal supplements only to find yourself back in the same spot a few weeks later. You’ve probably asked in frustration, “WHY AM I ALWAYS GETTING SICK?!”

I often hear about illnesses hanging on throughout the winter months, re-occurring and sometimes even showing up into to spring and summer. I find that there are two different ways to help the body fight off illness. …

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Mindfulness Techiniques

Transforming Everyday Routines into Mindfulness Techniques

Angela McElroy, Emotions, Mind Body and SpiritNo comments

I was hoping for a relaxing summer. I had plans for sitting on my deck with a good book, spending time in the garden with my herbs, soaking in the sun, beach days and picnics at parks. My plans came to a screeching halt with farm babies needing to be fed, my kiddos’ activities and keeping my family fed. Life still needed to happen.

With the chaos quickly burring my plans, I began to find myself with a short fuse. I may have even dropped the f-bomb once or twice. And the moment I realized I was maybe in an “unhealthy emotional state” was during a driving incident. I was running errands. Time was not on my side. And why is it that when you’re in a hurry, all the slow people are ahead of you in the fast lane?

I was fed up with a semi that had so conveniently cut me off. When he didn’t return to his own lane, I decided to maneuver around him. I pulled into the slow lane and started to pass, and, of course, that’s when he decides to put his blinker on to get over. That’s when I heard these words fly …

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sunscreen dangers

How Sunscreen Affects Your Health

Angela McElroy, Natural HealthNo comments

More than two million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer annually. And even though more and more people use sunscreen, the incidence of skin cancer continues to climb worldwide.1

I love the saying “At the end of the day your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.” –Shanti

But to make that happen we need to expose ourselves to the sun. I hear all over the media how we need to protect ourselves from the sun and how bad it is for us. And, to a certain degree, that is correct. Too much exposure can cause harmful effects like burns and over an extended period of over-exposure, it may be the cause of skin cancer. But I feel a more important question that should be addressed is: what happens when we deny ourselves the correct amount of exposure?…

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plantain benefits

The Story of Plantain

Angela McElroy, Children, Medicinal Herbs and FoodNo comments

The Story of Plantain from A Kids Herb Book by Leslie Tierra

Once there was a fluffy cloud that lived high in the sky. Every so often the cloud would grow dark as it filled with water from the earth and then uncontrollably rain upon all the plants and creatures below. Now the cloud could have lived happily ever after just like all the other clouds in the sky, except one day it realized it could not be fully happy so long as someone below was unhappy. This usually happened when Cloud released rain when people were not ready for it. Cloud was silly to wish that it could only rain when everyone was ready because it is impossible for everyone to be happy at the same time. So, no matter what, Cloud was left no choice but to feel unhappy every time it released a shower.

One day Cloud thought long and hard about this problem. It heard a rumor going around in the heavens. The news spread from stars to the moon, and the moon to the planets that a special event was about to happen. This rumor was that the sun and moon were going to shine …

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ReWild Your Child

Angela McElroy, Children, NatureNo comments

“A child found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, as though it was unable to go any further. 

The child decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but its body was swollen and wings were shriveled.

The child continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. Neither happened. In face, the butterfly spend the rest of its life crawling around. It was never able to fly.

What the child, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from its body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight. It was the struggle that the child tried to free the butterfly of that ensured its life. “   ~origins unknown

I first heard of this story during an herb class with Jim McDonald teaching …

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Fever – The Unsung Hero

Angela McElroy, Children, Medicinal Herbs and FoodNo comments

An Unsung Hero: One who does great deeds but receives little or no recognition for them.

This is the last thing I would have thought of while being awakened at 1am by a fussing baby that felt as if he were on fire. I remember walking over to him and even before I got to the crib I could feel the heat radiating off of his chubby little body. At this point I was frantic; my baby was burning up. I rushed to the bathroom to start a bath and dosed him with acetaminophen because that is what the commercials and health professional say to do. After that I sat on the rocker with him, on the phone with the ER, wondering what to do next.

The fever has been engrained in the parent’s brain to be a harmful symptom of an illness. And we as parents struggle to see our kids with a fever; we want them to feel better. The commercials try to convince us that the way to fight a fever is to give them this magical syrup and they will be well.   Because of this there is a lack of education about fevers and parents …

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